I have wanted to try a filo pie for ages as I recently came back from Greece and ate lots of spinach and feta spanakopita. I wanted to put a British spin on it so settled for chicken, peas, leeks and bacon with a nod to Greece, spinach. This was so comforting the filo pastry is so much lighter than the traditional shortcrust. I am going to have a play with different fillings now.

Ingredients

• 250g diced chicken
• 1 large leek, white part only sliced
• 75g pancetta or bacon lardons
• 300ml chicken stock
• 1 tsp cornflour, mixed with a splash of water so you have a thin paste
• 2 frozen spinach balls, or a small bag of fresh
• 100g peas, I used frozen
• Knob of butter
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1/2 tsp fresh black cracked pepper
• Salt to taste
• 6 filo pastry sheets
• 2 tbsp butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees fan
2. Heat a knob of butter and the oil in a frying pan with a lid over a medium heat. Add the chicken chunks and brown on all sides for about 5 minutes. remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
3. Add the chopped leeks to the pan put on the lid and sweat down for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add in the bacon or pancetta and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Pour in the chicken stock, put the chicken pieces back in along with any resting juices. Add the cornflour bring to a rolling simmer then reduce the heat to a genital simmer and cook stirring until the sauce thickens. Add in the spinach and peas they should thaw in the heat from the sauce and help slightly cool the filling.
5. Lay out a sheet of filo pastry and using a pastry brush, brush a thin layer of the melted butter. Crumple the pastry in your hand and place on top of the slightly cooled filling mixture. Repeat with the rest of the sheets so the filling is covered.
6. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes so the filling is bubbling and the pastry is crispy and browned. Enjoy 😊